Hailed as the best side in the world, FC Barcelona’s unprecedented success in 2008/2009, when it won all six trophies it contested for, was continued into 2009/2010. La Liga and Spanish SuperCopa winners, the blaugrana consolidated their position in second place in the Football Money League, as their revenue increased by nine percent to $538.9m.
The arrival of Sandro Rosell in June 2010 saw the club enter into a multi-year main shirtfront sponsorship for the first time in its history. Worth a minimum of $223.3, the five and a half year deal with Qatari Sports Investment will see Barcelona’s iconic shirt carry the Qatar Foundation logo from the start of the 2011/2012 season.
The decision has been attributed to the need to tackle the club’s mammoth debt, with a Deloitte audit in July 2010 showing that the club had a net debt of $598.3m.
Bolstered by the same uneven distribution scheme for TV rights, the club’s broadcast revenues increased to $241.1m, a twelve percent increase from the previous year’s figures, while it signed a new and improved contract with Mediapro with improved financial terms, which will run to 2014.
If Barcelona continue to match their remarkable rate of success and translate it into revenue growth, then it could soon be challenging great rivals, Madrid, for the top spot in future editions of the Money League.
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